Alternative payments have penetrated the market for airline tickets with Northwest Airlines Inc.'s decision to accept PayPal on its Web site. The move by the major air carrier, which executes about 1,400 daily departures around the world, makes it the first airline to accept PayPal and gives the San Jose, …

The agreement by Cardtronics Inc., the nation's largest ATM operator, to buy 7-Eleven Inc.'s entire U.S. fleet of 5,500 ATMs and Vcom multi-function kiosks hands the convenience-store chain a hefty return on its ATM investment while expandng Houston-based Cardtronics' network of machines by about 20%. The approximately $135 million cash …

The concept of an ATM that also serves as a kiosk for bill payment and other financial services may be getting closer to reality. TIO Networks Inc., a Burnaby, B.C.-based operator of bill-payment kiosks that serve primarily the underbanked, will begin deploying hybrid ATM-kiosk machines by the start of 2007, …

Convinced that banks are ready to upgrade ATM capability to sell more products and services, San Jose, Calif.-based Infonox Inc. says it is piloting marketing-savvy machines with unnamed clients and plans to have at least one commercial deployment in progress within six months. “There's a dramatic shift in the banking …

Peppercoin Inc., which started out as a processor of so-called micropayments for online content but soon began to embrace small-value point-of-sale transactions, now sees opportunity in both contactless technology and vending markets, its top executive says. “We've set bigger sights for ourselves,” says Mark Friedman, chief executive of the Waltham, …

In a move that quintuples the number of ATMs in its network, Citigroup Inc. today announced it will brand machines in 5,500 7-Eleven Inc. convenience stores in 31 states. The ATMs, which will bear the Citibank brand, will allow customers to withdraw cash without incurring surcharges, a feature the bank …

The idea of merging financial-services kiosks with ATMs will be tested this spring when Info Touch Technologies Corp., operator of the TIO kiosk network, and ATM deployer Cardtronics Inc. begin driving some 40 machines specially fitted to dispense cash withdrawals and perform kiosk functions such as bill payments. The machines …

Accelitec Inc., a Seattle-based company that last year launched a contactless-payment system aimed at merchants rather than banks, says it is preparing for expansion this year by smoothing integration with existing merchant networks. The company's PayPilot product is in beta with an unidentified merchant, and officials say they expect to …

The willingness of U.S. consumers to use credit or debit cards to buy things like cups of coffee or cans of soda is rising fast, according to a survey being released this week at a conference in New York on micropayments, or transactions for less than $5. Some 21% of …

Consolidation in the rapidly growing electronic bill payment business continued today with the acquisition of Govolution Inc. by Fort Worth, Texas-based processor First American Payment Systems LP. The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, hands First American an immediate stake in the business of processing taxes, fines, permit fees, …